Zack Snyder’s Justice League Trilogy: 8 Best Concept Artists

Though Zack Snyder was the creative head of his three films Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, and Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the director could never have created this world without the contributions of incredibly talented concept artists whose work allowed both Snyder and his team to visualize an incredible world where these god-like superheroes can exist.

Virtually everything seen in these films was developed by brilliant artists with grand resumes and fantastic work. Their contributions are a huge part of the movies, and their designs for vehicles, costumes, creatures, structures, and even whole scenes remain the blueprint for so many of the iconic visual elements of these DCEU big-screen adaptations.

8 Constantine Sekeris

Sekeris is a character and creature designer whose work you have likely seen outside the Snyderverse. His ArtStation is a heaven of 3D and 2D creature and character artwork for the Alien franchise, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and of course, the DC Extended Universe. He also created the second-to-last draft of Flash’s costume after refining an earlier concept by Jerad Marantz.

Aside from also doing early passes at Batman’s look, Sekeris was a major player in designing Wonder Woman’s now influential armor. Interestingly, his work also includes a concept for a more comic-accurate Aquaman outfit that eventually made it into the character’s standalone film in 2018.

7 Patrick Tatopoulos

It is impossible not to mention Patrick Tatopoulos, production designer on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Zack Snyder’s Justice League. This is the man who first conceived of Snyderverse Batman’s unique Batmobile design as a crude sketch on a café napkin, and from that, a true beast of a Batmobile was born.

A veteran production designer since he created the aliens from Independence Day (1996), Tatopoulos has designed creatures, costumes, sets, and even directed a few films himself in his time. His Instagram is a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes goodness, especially for those interested in his vehicular masterpiece, and he has done his fair share of captivating conceptual illustrations.

6 Peter Rubin

The new take on Superman’s iconic shield seen in Man of Steel was designed by Peter Rubin. On his website fans can find various different early concepts for the design plus a myriad of amazing CG work for the world of Krypton, including detailed VFX models of Kal-El’s spaceship, Jor-El’s flying steed H’Raka, and other examples of digital Kryptonian modeling.

Maurice Mitchell interviewed Rubin on Film Sketchr to discuss the process of designing the shield and his other creations for Snyder’s film. Enthusiasts for this new take on the iconic emblem would be remiss to overlook it.

5 Ed Natividad

When it comes to technical vehicular details and prop conceptualization, Ed Natividad is a true master. His website contains everything anyone could ever want to know about the Batmobile, Batwing, Bat-cave, and so much more solely through his vast collection of 2D and 3D artwork. Not to mention his vast range of work for films like Suicide Squad (2016), James Wan’s Aquaman (2018), and even the Amazing Spider-Man films.

Characters, environments, props, vehicles, and a range of VFX work make Natividad easily one of the most visually enthralling concept artists in the superhero movie scene.

4 Jared Purrington

Jared Purrington specializes in ideation, drawing beautiful renditions of conceived scenes to help visualize the director’s intent. His website is a thing of beauty, telling of an impressive resume having worked for Sony, Warner, Disney, and 20th Century Fox. His atmospheric, dream-like work in the Snyderverse will prove immediately be familiar.

What makes Purrington’s work so grand is his drawings of scenes and events from the three movies that look like they were taken straight from a Superman comic. Superman’s battle with Zod, the final clash with Doomsday, and the Justice League cutting their way to Steppenwolf’s fortress are just a few of the picturesque events his work inspired in the frames of Zack Snyder’s three films.

3 Warren Manser

Where Warren Manser shines brightest is undoubtedly in his incredible character design work. His website shows crystal clear, majestic conceptual work and illustrations for character costumes for Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman across the first two movies. His Superman art is especially vivid, with radiant depictions of early concepts for his costume that even included passes at including the trunks design.

Based on his behind-the-scenes images detailing the technical specifications for these costumes, it is clear that Manser was instrumental in bringing these characters to life, showing everything from the way the “chainmail” texture of Superman’s costume works to the layout of the silver piping throughout.

2 Christian Lorenz Scheurer

Christian Scheurer is arguably the face of Zack Snyder’s world of Krypton. His work seen on ArtStation includes a vast range of images depicting the surreal, dream-like, organic architecture of the H.R. Giger-inspired alien planet seen in Man of Steel, including many strange and unusual Kryptonian animals like an unseen “cyborg war dog” concept from early drafts of the screenplay.

A veteran of this universe, his work extends to some beautiful environmental studies for the worlds of Gotham and Metropolis in Batman v Superman. For Zack Snyder’s Justice League, he drew the mysterious underwater realms inhabited by Aquaman and the hive-like terraformed environment of Pozharnov where Steppenwolf built his base. After this, he appropriately designed Atlantis for Aquaman (2018).

1 Jerad S Marantz

Marantz has an incredible resume as a 3D creature designer, churning out aliens and monsters that assuredly every avid movie fan has seen by now. In addition to Thanos and his minions, his ArtStation has familiar faces like Steppenwolf’s scary original design, Darkseid, and even Kilowog in high-quality and various stages of conceptual development to give an idea of how these characters could have looked.

Not only that, but he has also contributed to various costume designs, having crafted Batman’s suit and armor for Batman v Superman, the first draft of Flash’s prototype suit, and even the brilliant costumes of Shazam or Black Panther. Marantz’s work is all around iconic, and it is impossible to imagine Zack Snyder’s vision for the DC universe without his distinctly creative touch.